Michael (M)这个美国学生以往几次考试都考糟了,这一次情况可大不相同。今天他和他的中国同学李华(L)约好了在图书馆见面。
L: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样?
M: Not bad! I aced today’s history test!
L: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴!
M: No, Li Hua, I didn’t bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it!
L: 你考得很好,那太好了,Michael!最近你每天都到图书馆来念书, 我知道你会考得比以前好的。你刚才用的是哪个字啊?
M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense.
L: 噢,在这里,ace是个动词,过去时就是在后面加一个字母 "d",变成 了aced。这个字是不是和扑克牌里的那张牌A,或者叫"尖子"的那 张牌一样的呢?
M: That’s right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well.
L: 对,在玩扑克的时候ace往往是价值最高的一张牌,所以ace就是指某件事做得很好。那ace作为动词还能用在什么场合呢?
M: Usually we can use "ace" to describe how we did on a test, or on things similar to tests. For example, I can say I aced my last job interview.
L: 噢,一般都用在和测验考试之类的情况,你上次找工作去面谈谈 得很好也能用"ace" 这个词。再说一遍你刚才说的那句话,好 吗?
M: I aced my last job interview.
L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。
M: That’s right. Li Hua, if someone is very good at something, we can call him an "ace". I can say, for example, you are an ace at taking tests.
L: I’m an ace at taking tests, 你说我非常会考试!这也不见得,我考糊 的时候也有的。不过,比你少一点就是了。
M: Yes, you’re right!